Faith In The Unseen

a Baooalsureate Dtooourw bj B. i Cockm, i i:it UnlTerslty of Mlohlgan, Ann Arbor, Banda? June, r.M. HEBREWS XT, 1. A isumlng that these worils are the most anthoritative, the moet radical, and the most comprehenive deíinition of Faith, I shall employ tliem as the l)asls of a discussion on the nature, the developmeni and the energy of that Faith whlch, in uil ages, and among all races oí men, tus been the living lource oí all religión. I recuni. at the very oin-.i ol thlsolscusBton, tht rebaveto encountera vüe dlversitv of opinión as to the lntrtntc valne of religión ilself. Aflcotdlng to Kunt, religión u morality. When we look upon M onr moral autleé as divine eommands,that,he thlnks.conBtltutes religión. Flete, on the otherhand, mjb, religión Is knowlee- pre-eminentlj seli-kno ledge Inasmneli as the Ego is the absolute Behelrmaeher define religión as feelIng- the feeling of absolute dependence. HegeFa famous definition makes relionthe ven oppoBiteoidependencti.namelj treedom- ■ ,„,'i, i treedom. c..nne says religión is worshlp- the worahip ol ideal Immanity. and Feuerbach degrades M to "geK-love.' Ann.l all thta eonáld oí opinión it would seem to M i,i,.innht nu ns to furnlsh an adequate nltlon of religión beforewe eua proceed to the dieeusslon of the nature oí reügtons faltn. Our timewill not permita critleisntof all these various deSnitions dWeligion. It may snfflce tor u aov to saythat there U va element of trath in mosf of these, apparently, eonfllctlng statements. One says religión oonBistsin knowledge; another Baysthal it eonsistsln fecling; another says tha1 11 cónslsts in actton. What if it shonlcl be foundto embrace all these Í There are some eommön polnts ol agreement whioh must be aesumed In every dlscugsston or it woul.l be Interminable. 1 ahall take it forgranted llmt the mass oi the ándl encewtll accept (1 least provtelonally) tin followlng definltlön: Religión is a mode of lite determlned bj the consciousness of our personal relatlon U (od; umi herel aae the term lile," in tl mostcomprettenslve Bense, tb connote all ttw capacities and activities of man. This defmition is valuable becwse ol im it Indndes. Fir.t, it carefully dlscrlmtaates between moralilv and reUglon. Morality regulates onr conduet In social lile. It la a mode of ure, determlned bj our personal relations wlui our felluw men. ' Religión regnlates our thonghts and feellnggand aetloni toward God. It i mode of Ufe determlned bythe dea oí God and onr eonscloueness oí obllgation to God. There may be n moralilv whicli has lts roota in religión, just as there may be a ehemistry whlch has its roota In physlcs, Imt it will always be neeessary to dlstlngulsh them In thoturht, for as Kant has justly remarked: -We do not eñlarge bot dtsflgurethe sciences , when we loso sight of their respective ( rles, and allow tliem 1o run toto one another. , This deiinition is also valuable because it is generic, and eomprehends all religión ffhether , uuder the Patriarchal, the Jewlsh, the , tian, or even the heathen dispensatton. It s defines the essential religión of Job and izcdek of Jelhro and Rahab, of Moses and , David oí Sócrates and Plato, of Paul and John. , Furthermore, thls deflnltlon connects , mi with thewhole of man's spiritual nature :,ml coordínate the whole of hls mental power It asserts Uut a rellgtous destlnatton appcrtains t. the vcry life of man. Tt aseaxnee tliat man wae made tot religión, and that it is not only in andthrough religión that his nature can be perfeeted; and that, theretore, religión is not COgnltton alone, nor vet teellnz alone, bot vet actlon alom-, trtt a Híe which has the Divine as lts basis, lts luw, and ts end. , No if reliuion has respect solely to tne Divine, that is to the Unseen, the Supernatural, the Infinite, the Perfect, then of course it eannot reat upon sensible observation. upon physieaJ experiment, upon quantitative indnctiou ■ it must rest solely upon Faith- a faith which is itselfthcevidenee (the "elegkos- the conviction, the prooi) of thinirs not seen." A faith which if, in its essential nature, an mi uit on, a mental visión of the Super-sensible, the Divine has been the universal root of all religión, in all stages of its development, amon" all the families and tribes of men. This to many minds is a stumbling-block .,,„1 ., m „f öffenee. That religión should ■est upon faith is for them an Insuperable ob,.,,,,11. Dldlt profesa to rest upon sensible .lilis, apon natural science, upon mathemati■al proof, upon logteal demonstrations, they uightcondescendtoconslder lts claims; but jecause it rcsts upon íaitli they reject ít witli leom. This prejudgment of the claims of 'a elif ion based on faith" is not to be thoughtlessly branded as an irrational prejudlce. It must have a reason and an erplanation. At Lhe foundation of tliis habitude of mind thcre tnust He certaln preconeeptions whlcb antagonize, or certaln uystems of thought whieh preclude the conception of religión as a mode of Ufe determlned by the consoiousness of our personal relatiou "to God. I think a careful analysls would show that this prejudgment I, ,- rootin oneor other of the tollowing evstema of philosophiethought. either- " First, A pantheistfc natnrallsm whlch ldentifies God and nature, denles a transcendental volitional ereatlon, ana absoJutely exclndes the supernatural. The order of nature - the only Qod, andthat order Ís eterna! ;or Secondly, A mechantcaldelsm whlch admita otoñe Bupernatnríú ereatlon - a transcendental origln of nature- but surrenders all subsequenl becomlng to the absolute relgn of mechanlcal causation, and .lenies all possible commeree or tatercourae between God and man, ave that whlch may !, efflected through mediatlon of Benslble slgn; or Ihiiil. An nltra-rationalisin whlch knows ae source of supersenslble knowledge but a universal impersonal reaaon (koino logos); reduces Inspiratlon to thc enthuslam of genius; and cherishes an exaggerated dread ,,i mlracle and mystery. It Isclearlj olivions that each and all ni these systemsof thougbt can nave no place íor- and no syrnpathy with-the conception religión whlch i huve presented. if there i„ .uu present who entertain Hiese r. un reasonlng musí anoear ti. tbem Inconsequent and wwfhle Por, flfBt Of all, niv d.'liintiun has lor its oecessary postúlate, the pernonaltty' of (Jod- that is,ü asamnee tha1 al tfte immuun -ueau 01 ;,il extotence and of all relations there is selfconwiousness and treedpra; or, to put tbe matter in plain word, it assumea thal the firsi eause the niaker of the world knew iliat He existed, knew that He made the world, knew why He made the world, and knew that He was freeto makeornot to make tbe world as it is. This may not be very philoeophlcal language, but it conveys my meaning- peraonality ia sell-coiiBCtongiieM :ui.l Belf-detemination. God is a pereon- he knows, he icéis, he will. Now, 1 Instel on this polnt, that if God is nota peraon there can be no sucli öilng as religión, in any tair and ingenuouBsenie. Just aemorallty beglns and ends ith il' eacred relatlon uf pergon to person, sothat there eau beno morality In the relatton at thlng tothlng, of atom to atom, oi plant to planl ; bo religión beglne and ende In the eaered relatlon of finlte personalltj to the Infinite pcreonality. Reverenee, love, loyiltv. fellowshlp, ar termswhlct connate perional relations. Reverence tot 6od, love and loyattyto God, feUowshlp with God, are meaningless if God il not a person. This i fully recognized by Btranasln liis last rork - ■ Til,. OM and New Faith"- when he puts thequestlon: "Have we siill any religión;" II by religión youunderWand love and loyaH U a personal God, feUowshlp or eommuniu witli ■ persona] God, then he answérs No If by religión you are wllllng to onderst&n reverence foi 1 1 order of nature and love f iirautiful in art, then lnj anewew Yee The ii'lifrioii of the fntnre, according, t Btrauss, wül draw lts Ufe brom art, froi music and palnting, and sculpture, and capee lally frora htstronie art. The future churc wil! b thetheatre, and the tature pulpit wi Uv, tlu Btage. H personality is abandone there can be no religión. Then, secondly, ou definition of religión presupposed a self-man festation of God - a direct eommunication o rnowledge - n personal dlsclOBUre oí th etareter and life oí the invisible God to the : ctousness of man ; and, therefore, all i ation must neeessarily be supernatural. No ystem of sensible signs - neither the I eeut symbolism of nature, nor the artilieial ymbolism OÍ human language - can eonvey he knewledge of Godtoabeing destitute of he iimate eonseiousness of God. Wc do not, ie cannot derive the idea of God trom naurc; rather we interpret, nature by our own mullí' Bense of God. "That which may be knowu of God must be manifested in men." tod hlmself must Brst "show 11 unto them." ir they can u"vcr (■! his eternal power and Godheailin the ereated world." Human language, even, eannot eommunieate the knowedge "f God, f man have not airead; the Idea if God in Mi inind. A word is a mere empty sign- a meanlngless symbol without a mental image, or au abstract conception, or as bínate percepttoa, ofwhlchthe -ord is a slgn. The mental Image, orthe abstraci conception, orthe sennlblepreientation, or the pure Idea mnsi precede the name; cognitlon must be ante rjof to - and give the neaning of - language. l.ct any one who doubt thls attetnpt to rum municateknowledge to a cliild by worda alone. Yon hum present the object Brst and then glve the name, And bo, 4b Max Muller h&i shown, "the Idea of God must have been present to the thought of man before he uttered the name of God." Mechanica! Deism deniec the possibility of thls self-manlfestatlon of God to the soul of man. It disavows all direct communieatlon from God, whetlicr i' :ill men as men. or to somemen In particular, a prophetsandseers. God eau only be known, if known at all, as the forcea of nature are known by the pressures and motions wbieh tliey produce. The truih of the Divine existence is an inferenee and not an intuition, a deduction, not a revalation, a probability. not a divine ceztalnty which can inspire and mold the life. Vinally. our deflnltion of religión presupposea a mental faeulty or power in all men, distinci from sense, and from the discursive reason, orloglcal faeulty, wbich enables man tci ;ippereeive the superuenslble, the supernatural, the Divine. As diBtinguieed from externa] sensewemaycallit "superna! sense, :iv distíngulshed from discursivo reason we mav cali it "Intnltlve reason ;" atitatingnlshed {rom underetandlng we may best cali it "íaith;" but, name it as we please, it 18 the God-ward side of our being, it is the capacity o( the human spirit for belng permeated, Irradlated, Insptred by the Divino spirit, and raised tato consctons fellowshlp itii the UvIng God. l'liis is unqueetionably tlie doctrine of mir texi : "Falth is the Stabstanec, the hypostasls - the sotttething-standtag-under - tlie infernal gubjectiye "round of tliinas hoped for." It is that ta our spiritual belng which reaehes out tow:iids and yeatns alter and hopea for a Ufe of blessedness ta Gtod. So far it is Ceellng. It is also the evidence - the elenkos - the inaiil coiiviition. the mental cisión of thinífs nut Been, that Ís, oí eupernatural realitie. ín reBpect it is intuitivo reason. Therefore lnitli has two nu its, one m the intellect and i another In the heart. To this the uUra-ratlonaligt objects. Se ivers tliat by postulutiiiR a third function oí the conecious self for the apprehenslon of the superaaturaï, we are introdoclng ;i mysterieus if i o a mystlcal element lnto psychology. We reply that this funetion is no more mysterious tliiin senee. Nothing in reality is or eau l1 more mysterious than sense-perception. This, by the confession of both physieiste and psyehologiste, is "the tnystery oí mysteries." Uow an undalating ave in the externa! ether can be transmitted lnto a abjectlve iVeling. ind tlien projected lnto the objectlve worldas color, is a mystery which sclence confessea ii gslf unalile to Vxplain. "I know nothing irhatever," saja l'rof. Huxlev, "umi never tope to know anytblng whatever of the steps by which the passage from molecular movements to states of consciousness ír éffected." And Dr. Tyndall says that "the translation of the shock of the etherlal wavesinto congcious eindes the analysis of seience. . . The passage from the physics of the bram to the faets of consciousness is unthinkable." Not only do the physicist admit that sense-perceptioii is inexplicable in the present state of seience, but they assertthat in the very nature of tliings it never can be explained. On the fine sirte we have "a mode of molecular raotion;"' on the other side. we llave "a faet oL eonseiousness," and between these Dr. BowRaymond admits "thereis an impassable gulf . . . across which there is no bridge and over which no pinion can carry un." Senseperception is the spiritual organ which in some myeteriousand í'orever inexplicable manner eonnects us with the natural world, and aith is the, spiritual organ which in some myserious and inexplicable marnier eonnects u ith the supernatural world. On the ground f "mystery," one can no more be rejected mn the other. If there is to be any direct ommunication between God and man, any revelation," we must presuppose ta man what acobi designated "the Incorpórea! organ for ie perception oí thesupersenstble."' A íootlan will run your errands across the town, but , "needs a winged Iris ora sundalled líennos jbringthemessagesof godsto men." James [artinean never uttered a traer word than henhesaid "there eannot be such a thing as natural religión.' Onr religión must be spir ual. springiiig as it does exclusively withlTi ie supcrnatiiral element m us. nay, more, 11 religión must be revealed. if by that word e mean 'directly given by Divine communlcaion' as opposed to medíate diseovery of onr wii." ("Essays," vol. i., p. :i?:s.) Vlewed in its rellgione beartngs, faith is, then, n everv case essentially the samo. It is truc bat t may be subject to some modifleatlon by he different Segrees of development in t.be ndividual miiid, and by the different aspeéis mdcr whieh the Divine is manil'osted to man i different periode in the course of human hisdi-y. But in all cases it is fundamontally the ame. Faitli is the nivsterious sentiment of the Divine, and by "sentiment" we mean the living and harmonious synt.hesis of reason and teellng. It is the Busceptlbilit.y of our eplrltua] nature to Divine insplratlon In all its degrees, trom the simple monitions of consclence to the plenary effolgence oí apostle and prophet. And it is llnally the powerwhlch toéis aíter and reachee ou( to aids and Laye hold noii eterna! Ufe in God. In endeavoring to elabórate these views Hith more fnlness, I reroork 1. The Scrlpttlral idea of Falth is gronnded apon and stippoBeB Boroe samenesa (orldentltv) of essence between the nature of man and the nature of God. We are in sume manïioi- eoniiected witli the Divine. There la in man a somethinir whieh glvee hirn a (loser allinity witii (id tlian belongs to phyaical existence. It may assist om' apprêhenslon of thi ci.nfessedly mysterious subject to remcniher that man isa spiritual being, and at least so far "akln to God." It will aid us stil] more to remember that God is "the Father of the human spirit," not by a mere figure of speech, bul by a divine reallty. Cleanthes, the stoic philoaopher, Aratus, the heathen poet, Paul, the Christlan teacher all imite, as representar Uve volee, in saylng "We are the oflepring of God;" and, Inasmuch as all offspring must have the saine essent.ial qualities as the parent, therefore man must bear "the likenessoi God." Wlth all reverence forthe catholle thinking of the ages as expresied in the lymbols ól the church, md witli.I trust a toleraNy accurate anderstandlngoííhequalincatlonsof the greal inith n Christlan dogmatice, I venturo to say that the wsrlpttu unequivoeally aflirm the universal Faöierhood ol God, and Uw divine ftHation f man. In that universal torm of prayer whieh was taught U6 by the Son of (od, and in regard to wMch Max Muller has saldthattherels not alangnageora dialeet spoken upon eartli toto whieli it eaiinot l,e translated; every human heinir is tanght to say "Our Father who art in Heaven." And because al! men may say "Our Father," therefore we' may say of all men, "they are the Image and gloiy ol God." On (e based the saerednesH Of human Ufe, and the dominion of man over the worke of nature. The human spirit as "the oftspring and image of God" must liave correlatlons and atlinitles wlth the Infinite spirit. As spirit it must possess an innate power of knowing God, and an imminent tendency ior the reverence and worship of God. So that, to our appreheiision, Faith In the Divine is groun led upon .ui original reeembluice to God, and au Innate , 'eeling after God wlncli belonga to every lmnan soul. Il 11 truc 1 lint il H n are not ■spiritual" men in the sense in whteh thai term is used in New Testament theology, Imt all men liave spirited SUSCeptlbilities and religious tendenctea, and theistlc lntuition whieh may le cultlvated and developed. And he in luim tlie.se spiritual rosceptlMlitles are dereloped ander bhe Influence of culture and a creed, tato a lile of eonc(,oui commnnion with God, is a "spiritual man"' n tlie NVw Testament sense. Notonlymu! we i á 1 ■ account of the geneBis ni the human spirit in a Divine Fatherhood, imt wemust alsoremember that it "is In God ve Uve and move andhaveonr lieing." (úl s not . .11 is the perpetual (ountain ol lili-, but lie is the illimitable ocean ol' lite, lñ whieh we hayeour individual Ufe, and movement, and belng. A.s time raposea on the boBom ol eternity, as bodies do all exist in iminensity, so do the 8ouls of men exist in the Immeasurable ocean of the [nflnite Deity, "Froni God," as t heir souree, "in God" a their gronnd, and "to Boé" sa their end. are all belngs. We mtl therefore atlinu the Immcdiate contignlty o( God t l the srail of every mnv Nu wurdf can licitei ' m- Ilie trutli ihau those of Robertson's, "The spirU of God lies touchlng, as it rere, the spirtt ol' man. ev-r around, ever near. A Ene atmosphere sarrounds the outer man, pressing upon him trom every -idc-. 80 does the Infinite Spirit snrround and touch the spirit of man. God Ib the ever-present, and the ever-near." Naj more, the Divine Spirit permeatesthe spirit of man. "God fllls all things, as the liL'lit fllli the dew-drop, and is dtetlnct trom all things u the liirlit is dii-iiiii-t lioin the dey-flrop." As the one simple iibiqitous torce OÍ grama. tion permeates the entire material nniverse, exlsting at every polnt in spaee and actlng alike ujioii every atom of matter as mnrh as apon every planet rolling inspace, sodoes tlie Divine Reason - the eterna! Logos - "thellght of men" shine upon and permeatcall human souls. God lies aronnd us and is witliin iir-. Aüthatlawanting In order toour beeomtng eonscioas of tMs nearueBS of iUnl i that mprcme loyalty of soul totrutli and duty, tliat is to Gtod, wiiieh we eall Faiili. N'ot to have seen the "HJghest and the Best," or having seeD t and not pnrsned it, is to mar the true idea of our nature, and to fall from onr highesi dostination. II. The seeond, and perhape tlie most Important condition of man with the Divine. Is found in the Inatlnctlve teeltags and yearnlnga of the hninan heart. l'liis forin of il1 argument is acceptable even to men of t lic extreme naturalistlc school. Dr. Tvndall says: "No Athcistic reasoning can distodge religión froni the heart of man. Logic cannot deprive ns of lif e, and religión is life to the religious. As au experienee oí consciouanees, it is perfecüy beyond the assanlts of lógic" This general adniission that man has a reliijious coneeiousness is important. What is the nature of this religieus consciousnewi Ob Prof. Tyndall's owii admlsslon, it is aconsciousnesseonditional by "the idea of 1 power - not ourselves - wiiidi works lor righJteousnesBs; and be admits that this power whlch works tor rtghteoos "Is intelligent as wel] as othio.il." It is fair then, I tliink, to assume that this consciousnesa involves a sonso oí dependeo.ce : a feeling of reverenco ; a sonso of obllgation ; a conscioas eoomunity ot nature, and a longtng for a deeper fullowshlp v, irh tlie Divine. Most ol these speciflcations aro admitted even by Strauss. Letussee how for thla view ií rastaiiinil hvtlie fiicls of roliífioushistory. Assoelated 'itli - )erhajs eren irroclitie: all dofinitc conceptions oí 6od - thBre have hoon reM-ali-il cfirtain tpellnga oí awo and reverence whlch alise in Ote presence oí the vastnesa and majostv and grandeur of theuniverse, and ol the Powet and Wilom and Goodness, of whlch man intuitively feels tlie oreated nnám-io is but the ymbolaml the oxpression. There Ís a reslstiess sentiment- a felt Ipprehension that beyond and back of tlio visible and tangible, there s a personal living powor andpresence which Is the foundation of all, wliich faliions all, and lili? all with its liffht and Ufe ; that, in the lansnago of Goethe, "the universo is the living vost ure of God, in wliich the Invisible li:i róbedHfe inystorious loveliness." There is a fcoline of an ovor.-hadowiug Ronality whieh "compasseth man behlnd and before and lays lts hand upon him." There is the conseioüsness of absolute dependence upon a supreme though invisible Providenee- a feeling that our existenee and welfare are in the hands of another. Tliere is a sense of obUgation which is correlated with an objectlve righteousness, so that íaitli in Deity beoomes falth in God. Nay, tliere is even a conseioüsness of infinite sympatliy on whieh the soul instinotïvely leañs as an everlasting stay, and 1o which weaknesa and iunocence - under oppression and wrong - makes its linal uppeal and is comforted. Most of these sentiment. are fellcttonsly expressed bvAVordsworth in his representation of the development ot the Iterdsman's mliiil: So the foundations of hiw mlnd were laid. In sncli oommuniOD, not from terror fret1, ïïliilf yet n ohild, and loug beforo his timp, Had he percelved the presence and the powor Of proatnpfts; and deep feeling had Impressed So vlvidly great objects, that thpy lay rjpon hl mlnd llkp Bubstances, whose presence PerpleiPd Uw l.mlily sense. In the nfter-ilav Of boyhood. man; an hmir in oavea foriorn And 'mld the hollow depths of naked onigs llf s;it, and even in their Hod Hneameata Or by the power of a peculiar eye, or by oreative fppling OTerborne Kven in their rtxpd and flteady liueament Hetraced an ebbinK añil a flowlng mimi. Bxpresslon evervaryinp. ■" Hneh was the boy; hut for the KrowinK youlh what smil waü his, when, from the naked top l snnie bold headland, he beheld the sun Rlse np aDd tmthe the world Inllght! He lnoked; OceftB and earth - the snlid frame of earth Ond oeean's llquld masa, in uladness lay Beneath hitn; far and wide the elouds were touehed, And in theirailent faces could be read Unutterable love. Sound, needod none Nor my roice of joy; his spirit drank The speetaole: Hensatiun; soul and fora All melted Into htm. They Bwallowed n]i I lis animal beinfc'. . ■ They where his lile In sueh aoeess of mind, in suoh hinh hoir Of Tiaitation from the livini? God. N'ou, I hold that thls f eeling or sentiment of the. Divine- the suftemBtural - lsthegermol all real falth, andthai it exlBtBinallfanmarj minds. [t may be somewliat modificd in its developmoiit liy the liiciiiiiMaiiccs in wliich men are placed and the degree ol culture they may enoy. TheAtrlean Fetichlgt, In his moral and Intelectual debaeement, coneelvee a sapernalural power enslirined in every object of naton - a Panthelsm in its radeet fonn, in which, as Max Muller lias shown, there is more of meaning and of reaBOD tluin our modern antlirploitistK admit. The rude Feeffean regaraa with ilread, and even tenor, the Beinc; whodarts his HghtningB and wields the thunderbólts, The American Indian "sees God in clouds and heare him Inthewlnda." TheSeotisli herilsmau on the lonelv moantaintop feels thepresence and the power oí Greatness and renderssilcnt worship. The lmmortal Newton liftshipeyesto "the starrv heavens" in all the depth of their concave, and wit h all thelr constellationsof glory movlng on in solemnpcrandeur; and these inmeüsiirable reffions ■fi-m lilled with the splendors of the Deity and crowded niih the monumentn ol his power. Thegreat Germán metaphyglclan Rant torna hÍ8eyeupon the Moral Law within, and heare the votce of an inteUigeni and righteous Gtod. Inalltlu-sc cases we have a revelation of the sentiment of the Divine which dweil in all human hearts. Alongwiththis-entinient oí the Divine there exists alKo an intuitive yearninf; after the Invisible and Spiritual - not a mere feeling oí curioslty to pleree the mystery of life anc iielns. lint, as Paul desígnate i. "a feellnf after God," whloh prompts man to "seek after" a inore perfect knowledge, and. il poulble, a more Intímate feHowsbtp, To attain this move perfect knowledge and this fuller eoneciousnets of the bemg and presenee of God hae been the alm and the eflort of all philosopliy and all religión in all agee. The Hlndoo l'antheist proposèa to withdraw into his lnmost self, and by a catalepsls of all hls active powers to beoume absorbed and swallowed up in tbe Infinite. The anetent Mystici eought by self-restraint and aseetle self-renunclation to prepare themeelves for DWlne cooimunings and beïleved theyrecelved some t llght inunediat 'li ironi lleaven. Even Plato i and hls followeri eought for au "assimUation 1 to the Delty" ál the consummation ui all í philosophy. VVhiktthe universal Chureh of ■ God In its bes! dajg has believed and taught i that by belteving lve and inward purlty mas is capable of apLrehendlng, diseerning and 1 consciously feellnjf the presence of (1. We i avow, nut with UmMity, luit witli boldneia, i tlmt the Interna!, living energy of religión Is alwaye mystlcal, and there never wa.-, a ! litiioïi in the srorM th1 exerted any i Ing, sanetifying power Umi did not Ure in the i reglón l myctery, Merely Intellectual i eeptions and rationsl ideas cannot bring man into a living nulon with God. The falthwhich I raises man Inte the light i.i the Divine : end'. Isa receptlv powerwhich bas its Beal in the heart, nul uniU-rstancliiig- a life-puwer whlch lays huid upan the unseen and npirltuaJ worlil and draws ttt heavenly influenre Into the heart of nuil. e come to thfe ut last, tlien. that. the faith whi.'h [.lililíes the heart and enobles the character noj assnt but consent, nol credencp bnt e.uiii,lvne.. ft is not the aoknowlccliiviiwiit . ui' - ainv doi as Irne bul a -! iie .r '-. i ■ ..ii iii. ij man to roceive thf ;' ., wiaplrations ol God and opena Int innocent ieing to Ene possosrion and oceapnw; ofGod,sthal hebecomM a "temple of the lluly Spirit." Thfa was thefaithof all the N'e Test-iiiiiiit e'ntnples - an asplrlng, heroic faith of heart and ill whlch necessarilv ])assed Into Ini'oie actlon. Anditis wurthv ff being noted and deèply ponderedthat the post remarkable examples of strong and prevjlllng Faith recordedin the New Testament are ïrom the heathen wor(l - the lyro-Phcentcian wuman and the Roman centurión, In the case o( the centnrton, it ii Imposatble to determine hat en hi precise rellgiousoplnlong. Oor Lord malsno effort to draw out ui expression of them. [f thej rere erroneons, he does not seek to curreot t li-m : M theywere narrow and mperlen, he doos not attemptto enlargethem. Andjl oí thismanhe said "I have not peen mi ureitf faith, no nut in Israel! So In the case of tlietkro-Plinviilcean wuhkiii. thcreis no allusion iihatever to any article of belief, any creeds, eonfesslone, oateehlsma or inst iiutt' f theology. There is not a word or tastractlon ntterod bj Christ in regard to his person, his office, his sacrificial death, or bis future kingdom, There it not one question askcd as to her religious opinión ; there 16 no confession of faithjequired ol her in order to her being made a re'eipient of the Savior's graee. AU we do learn of tier is siinply this- she longed with all the earnestness oí' a mother's heart for the healing of her afflicted child. She had an inward conviction or persuasión that ('hrist wasabletoheal her danghter, and there bIic crled, "Have mercy on me!" and in evi (leut adiniration ol her intense earnestness, he itoportunity, her cenfidence in his compassion and power, .lesus cxelaimed, "Oh, woman great lsthy Fatthl" And I cannot but (hink that all allusion t doctrine was desUrnedlv avoided by Christ i these two remarkable lnttances, in order to teaci nstlüit the faithtthichtakesholrtonGod, andbrings us consciously nearto God, andsecürea bis "mercy" in aaswerto our prayerof need is not au ufl'air of the undcrstanding or logical faculty, not a reception or opinión on I tt'ètimony or prooi, bm a moral state of the heart, whlch is the essential condiiion, theSupreme condltlon of salvation. It. is a freeact oí the spirit surrenderine itself to tho guidane.e of God, an atmling oontidence in tho righteousii -uidbeiignity o{ God, and a supremeloyulty of soul to God whioli prompts a willintc service and an adorinc lo%'e. The iusceptibility of the heart to the Divine was douhtless ualformly asaoclatea witli tome religtoas idea - uith moreor lees correct f-onu of God, ■ -"i ome brfiofin aiopernatural interposltion, and a auperaatural grace to redeem man f rom sin, and raisp hira to a nobler forra of life. 'Diese religions ideas niay exisf as we all know, apart froin tliat fundamental disposition of heart we eall failh. On the other hand, a right moral Btate of the heart may copxist wlth mueh that íb lefeetlve and even erroneousinaman's relígious opinión. Clearness of underatanding il not necessarily (18Oeiatedwith a deepand l.vinff faitli. AVe have knownmanywho were 'ery detective in rellgiouslinowledfrewhower-yet "strengin Faith" and "pure in life" and vho honored God by a oyf ui confldence wliich bcautificil and blessed i th'eir lives: whJchleadï rte to mylast i tion, namoly : "That religión faitii admits of degrees. Faith in lts Inelplent grrm exists naturally n all men, even the savigo: tbey have all a mystcrious presentment oí the Divino. Tliere , nover was vet a race o.' men found without a religión. Faith in itphigheríorni. as a ' Ing alter the Divine, l'leéling afu-r God" has been displayed by many noble souls in all ages and in all landg- $ Zoroaeter and Confuclun, Sócrates and Pialo, Epletetus and Maren- Aurelio. The Miïptuivs teaeh us thai there has existed amove heat lien nations, as in the oase of Ruth the Moabite. Kahab the Canantte. .letliro. Uu ivieM ot .Midian, tlio Centurlan of Capernaun, and the Syro-FhteiüoiM) woman, a living MMciptibfltty to the powers of the invisible world, and a itrong and vigorous faitli assoeiated witli an imperfect knowledge of Divine things. So that inevevy heathf-n Da tion and in e.vety heïthen land, "He that (aceording to Ma llgkt) has feared Ciod and wrought righteoifiiiess has been aeocpted of Him." These ai had what Paul designatea, "The Spirit of Faith"- a faith whlch longed for the Divine, wiioh earnestly looked for a ■■Redeemer frorn ita," anddeglred to rise to a nobler and puret life, and wlio. had Chrlsi been proelaimed tothem, wouldhavc joyfully wekomed him a "the üesire of Nations," the hope of the wo-ld. As Dr. Whedon JuBtlj observes: "We nav believe that Sócrates, who, aoeording to the statement of I'lato, I longed lor a Diviie Teacher would have oieed at tho reiealine advent oí the I siah;" and the sptndid catalogue of saints ! oanonized here n tliis ehapter by Paal, had, ' at. host, but a dim concept ion of the Kedeeming God- the objt of Christian Faith ;some, perhaps, 110 eoneejtion at all; hut theirfaitb was the aspiring, herolc faith of heart and will which Mirrend-rcilthc visible to tho im ï.-.- iblo, the temporaleo the eternal, which longed to know the rlghi and the good. and re8olyed, at all hazards, to o tho rtght and pureue the good, oven at ihr eacrifiee of life itpelf. Of eoursethe hiirhiM and most perfect faith is that ui the Christian, whioh beholds Chrint in his divine personaliiy. seeR in him "God manifest in the Vleeh,11 and this "visión of the glorj oí God'' transform him iuto the same Image, and tllls and floods his whole being with the sense of a present God. The Christian form of Faith is thus, both for the individual and the race. the bigbeet and noblest form, and yet in the niidst of the high civilization which it has produoed, we find Christian Ministers receding f rom the highvantageground to that lower poBlttos held in former ages oí Plato, Zoroatter, Confudus and others. And now, in conclusión, indulge me in the ntterance of personal convictione which have deepened with advancing years. The more 1 have seen of the world aud know of the history of mankind the more have I come tolook OPOn iheir errors n sorrow and not in anger. "When," in the words of Chalmere, "I take the history of one poor heart that han sinned and Büflered, and represent to myself tho Itruggles and temptations it passtd throngh- the brief jmlsationB of joy. tearsof regret, the reeblenees of purposc, the scorn of the world wliicli hasliitle charity, the drsolation oí the bou]'8 sanctuan - health gone, happinesa gone, life tu-aiiy gone, I would fain leaVf the errlng "iil of my fellow-man with ilim trom wíiose hands it eame." With these fcclingK I Nu.uld not sit in Jndgment on my (eliow-man, 1 lind contolation tor mysolf, and hope for the hiilvation of my iellow-meu in a reHgion which is ('ounded upon Faith in a Redeeming (od. This Faith, the living j trnrt in theinliuitemercyof God, theraprenu lore wad loyalty to ('lirist as Redeemer of men, can alone Impart that fundamental rectitnde of purpose wliich will bear the acratiny of the Omniscieal Kyc. Thus Faith alone can give us that '-visión of the Best and Highest," which will exert over our hearts a transforming power and purlfy the fountalns of our intellectual and moral life. And iinally, this Faith alone will enable us to conquer tïie world. This conüdence in the presenee, and svmpathy, and help of a Redeeming God is that wlik-li w i 11 itrengthen the heart and nerve the arm to do liattlc against the slus and uro n u-.s of earth, and feelas with a divine Borrow for the sufferer and the sinner. Wt eau du nothing truly great or good without Faltb 1 11 "a power, nol ourselvea, wbieh worki for righteoueness." All tt-iily great men - epoch-formlng men, men who have turned the eurrent of ovenU In national life, wererneiiut 8trong faith in God. Huss, Wieklifï, Liither, Knox, ('roinwell, the Puritana - men of markeü IndJviduality, Independence and power, were men of wonderful faith. To have a vivid eonseiouncss of personal rdaiion to (.lod, to feel that lie lias giren ns a nork to do, that tve have a vocation of God, and that he has anolnted a and glrded us, will make invineible. Dear vounn frlende of the grduatlng clase, never let go of vuur faith m moral g'ood, in duty, and in the living God. N'o man i au live on mere denialí. mere negsiUons. Positive trutli of kitiil K f-fntial :is food for inind and diameter. Sceptlcism ia a moral paralysis, "thedaath of act ion Inits birth." It will put you om of all hympathy ith effortfl in v..i....in iin-i! if.iin in. Vuil will bet-i'iM1 -t'lti.sli and raoroae. I t'tiftr, also, yoo will co.iccitcd auil vain. li Ctoesnoi iquire nnicli Icaniinu' or nuieh logic to be a oiilder and a denier. It Is eaaler for to pull oh n tlian to iniild np. "The Epheatan Tem Ie employed manj wli' heads and strong mufor a liivtiinc toimiidlt: it ras unbnilt yone niadman in a single hoiir ." ' Most. of you will be assailed bj doubt, and orevery noble soul of you doubt will be agony. öbertson, that mos) celebrated of the English lergy, paased throughthli lii-rv fnrnaee, and e knew whathe meant hen lic called it "Aa wful hour" - when thu Ufe has Wt its meanig and seeins slirivclled toa span; when the rave appears to bé the end of all; when the ky above a beoomes a dark expnse, black ith the val! froin whieh God himself haf disappeared." In this darkest hour through which a hvimai) soul eau pas, hohl fa1 at am rata to the grand simple of moral good. Donot become sensual and selflsh, "lf there no Gtod, and no future life, it i bettertobe generooi than selflsb - better to lic c.hastc tlian llc.ntlous, better to be trne than talse. better to be ji s: than unjunt, better to be brave than to be a eoward. Blessed beyoud all earthly blessedneas is the man who, in the tempertuous darknesa of the soul, hold fast to these venerable landmarks. Thriee blessed, becaiue his night shall pass lnto clear brlght day.